This renewal of the COBRE award to the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) at Kansas State University (KSU) is requested for the continued support of the "Center for Epithelial Function in Health and Disease". This Center will continue to provide the resources necessary to advance the research programs of basic scientists and clinician-scientists and enable them to successfully obtain independent NIH funding. Five Project Leaders at CVM and collaborating departments have been selected for this renewal. As Project Leaders graduate from the program, new Projects Leaders will be identified through competitions. The first project period was highly successful, evidenced by a significant boost in research infrastructure and number of personnel, publications and external grant awards. All of the identified programs focus on epithelial function in health and disease and thus provide a strong foundation for translational research. Four Cores were established during the first project period that require further development: 1) the administrative core, 2) the confocal microfluorometry and microscopy core, 3) the molecular biology and proteomics support core and 4) the electrophysiology core. All efforts and expenditures of the program will be guided by the ultimate goal of enabling faculty to obtain independent NIH-funding. To this end, the Program Director, along with the mentors and advisors, will further develop a structured mentoring program consisting of interdisciplinary interactions and intensive individual guidance. Accountability of mentors and Project Leaders for their areas of responsibility will be assured by the administrative process. The success of the proposed program is predicted by the scientific merit of the projects, the research strength and enthusiastic commitment of Project Leaders, Mentors, Internal and External Advisors. The administration at the CVM-KSU is highly supportive of this Center, as evidenced by their past and future contributions and commitments. At this point, further development of the Center is critical to build momentum and ensure that the Center will be able to continue support of research on epithelial function in health and disease.